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In the day and age of Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, and Paramount Plus, we’re in no shortage of subscription services and options. But have you ever noticed how “subscription fatigue” is becoming a real cultural conversation? While streaming platforms, apps, and meal kits are useful, have they become so overwhelming that they’re only adding to the noise?
“Subscription Burnout,” or “fatigue,” has been recently defined by Fortune as a “pit of despair.” Not because the subscriptions in and of themselves are harmful, but because behind the digital spiral is a deeper question:
What in my life is actually sustaining me, and what is just draining me in small, unnoticed ways? For Christians, this even brings up a deeper question:
Am I stewarding what God has given me, or am I mindlessly maintaining things that no longer serve who I’m becoming?
As harsh as it might sound, Jesus isn’t always calling us to add more, but He might be inviting us to simplify.
1.Do I Really Need This?
While a lot of subscriptions stay active in the background, they aren’t essential to our daily lives. A good question to ask for these subscriptions would be: “Am I still using this, or am I just used to it?”
If you haven’t used a paid app in a long amount of time, never open certain streaming services you automatically pay for, or have a list of tools you “might use someday,” Fortune recommends cutting out these sources of information.
Just as people say you’re what you eat or think, what we consume digitally matters. And it often mirrors how spiritual habits can drift in our lives, all too often, from ritual without relationship.
Beyond apps and subscriptions you aren’t using, ask yourself:
Am I actively receiving value from this, or am I just tolerating its presence out of habit?
2. What Season Am I In?
Beyond learning to cut out unnecessary subscriptions and taking a true and honest inventory of our lives, it’s important to evaluate what season you’re in. Are you in school, working full-time, constantly on the go, etc? Each of these factors may contribute to which subscriptions are adding value to you in this season (or taking away from it).
Learning to ask yourself:
“Does this actually align with my current season or an older version of me?” can be a challenge. It’s hard to reflect on who you were and who you are now. The truth is, what made sense last year (or last month, or last identity season) might not be the best fit anymore, and that’s okay.
Maybe you were a college student with discounts for certain apps, but now the bills have stacked up in your post-grad life. It’s okay to let those go.
Maybe you paid for platforms with hobbies you used to enjoy, but have now grown out of that phase. It’s okay to let them go.
Maybe you even paid for services that matched a former routine and not your current one. Again, it’s okay to let go of what no longer serves you.
Christians are called to growth, not stagnation. Even Paul talks about pressing forward, not clinging to what’s behind in Philippians 3:12-14:
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (NIV).
With that in mind, try asking yourself this question:
Is this subscription serving who I am today, or who I used to be? Or who I want to be?
The answers to these questions might surprise you, but they could set you up for a better future.